Help! My Healthier Lifestyle Is Giving Me A Budgetache!

Kadeeae

alex_w wrote: »

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=721283&highlight=michael+pollan

I like Michael Pollan's phrase "The silence of the yams" (think Thriftlady mentions it)
ie. food that doesn't need a label to tell you what's in it is the best!

I don't know if you can still listen to the show - I think that only recent radio shows are available but I went to his website and read a few of his articles - very interesting!

http://www.michaelpollan.com/write.php

Have it bookmarked for later, thanks!

thriftlady_2

Yes, Michael Pollan is well worth reading. His book In Defence of Food is very good but don't buy it from Amazon get it from the library !

spaghetti_monster

I think one of the newspaper articles on the website is a sort of summary of his latest book - lots of stuff about additives in food - and what they were talking about on the food programme.

http://www.michaelpollan.com/article.php?id=87

Curv

Some great ideas on this thread... I'm trying to be healthier but am struggling on the budget front since I gave up work to be a SAHM to two toddlers (1 & 2) and a 13YO.

I like the idea of buying veg in bulk and think I could manage blanching* and freezing, but I'm not sure how I'd manage to get through a sack of spuds before they went soft/green/sprouty - any suggestions from you seasoned sack-of-spud buyers?

*Can someone remind me - is blanching cooking the one where you bring veg to the boil from a cold water start or where you plunge it into already boiling water for a minute or two?

thriftlady_2

Curv wrote: »

I like the idea of buying veg in bulk and think I could manage blanching* and freezing, but I'm not sure how I'd manage to get through a sack of spuds before they went soft/green/sprouty - any suggestions from you seasoned sack-of-spud buyers?

My advice is don't buy a large sack (20-25 kg) now. This is not a good time of year for those maincrop spuds that were harvested in the autumn. They are getting very sprouty now. I've just finished my last bag and I know if I buy another I won't get more than a third down it before they all sprout. However from September-ish up till March I find they last well for my family of 5. Sometimes they get a bit sprouty, but I just cut them off and cook 'em. I store them in the garage and make sure the top of the bag is pegged together.

For home grown potatoes you'll have to wait for the new crop of first earlies. Jersey Royals will be available (at a price) next month. I bought a biggish bag of UK spuds from the supermarket today(they have probably been treated with anti-sprouting stuff) and that's what I'll buy until June when the second earlies appear. I expect I'll get a few first earlies for a treat.

Blanching is (I think) chucking in boiling water for a couple of minutes.

HTH

prettypennies

To blanch, chuck the veg in boiling water for a couple of mins then plunge into icy cold water to halt the cooking process

Curv

Fabulous advice there - thanks :beer:

celyn90

Hmmm. I buy my veg from the market. I can't vouch for where it's from, but a fair portion is local sourced and seasonal. We have guests this weekend, so I spent more than normal, but I still struggled to carry £5 worth of vegetables. I just costed what I bought on my.supermarket and it came to £12.81 in Tesco (including two "offers"). The asparagus I bought looks wonderful and I have enough tomatoes to make some pickles later on too.

I refuse to buy organic produce from a supermarket on principle. I'm happy to buy from the market, local farms and local shops but I won't touch it if it's labelled as organic and all wrapped up in shiny plastic as to me it defeats the object.

Kadeeae

celyn90 wrote: »

Hmmm. I buy my veg from the market. I can't vouch for where it's from, but a fair portion is local sourced and seasonal.

Seasonal does seem the way to go, where can I find some sort of 'listing' of what is in season and when here in England. Our closest market always has lots of lovely produce, but I know not all of it can be seasonal and/or British.

Makes me wonder now what things simply cannot be grown in Britain at all. I'd be interested to know what things are imported always. I am such a curious thing :rotfl:

ceridwen

www.cookeryclub.co.uk/articles/seasonal-foods/seasonal-vegetables